Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law
Promoting the practice of business law
The Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law seeks to improve the training of business lawyers in both transactional and litigation practices through the concentration in business transactions for JD candidates. The Clayton Center oversees publication of Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law and offers a visiting professor program as well as faculty and student scholarship and field placement opportunities.
The Clayton Center provides a variety of real-world experiences for students pursuing a business law focus, including research associateships and field placement opportunities with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex, among others.
We are a national leader in business law, ranking 13th in U.S. News and World Report’s top business law programs among public universities.
George W. Kuney, Director
E-mail: gkuney@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-2500
Sophia Brown, Admin. Assistant
E-mail: srbrown@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-9917
Concentration in Business Transactions
The concentration in business transactions is designed for students who are interested in careers in law and business. Many of the faculty within the concentration have practiced with prestigious law firms and are uniquely qualified to help merge practical experience with law, theory and policy. In addition to the concentration in business transactions, the College of Law offers transactional drafting courses including commercial leasing, construction law, mergers and acquisitions, and software licensing. Resources are also available for business lawyers in various areas, from antitrust to tax law.
The online resources are compiled and maintained by the editors of Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law. The Clayton Center also offers online CLE courses based on its recent conferences and programs. The namesake of the Clayton Center is James L. Clayton, a 1964 graduate of the College of Law, who is the founder of Knoxville-based Clayton Homes Inc. (now a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway).
Transactions Journal
Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law was founded in 1998 by a group of law students at the College of Law with the assistance and support of Professor Carl Pierce, then the director of the Clayton Center. The first issue was published in May 2000. Since that time, the journal has evolved into a traditional law review. Transactions aims to publish articles that are both scholarly and practical, addressing issues of importance to those working in the field of business law in the Southeast and nationwide.
Visiting Professor Program
The Clayton Center offers a Visiting Professor Program to attract individuals who are interested in teaching business law courses and who are seeking to enter the academy from private practice. This includes the program for the Visiting Professor of Corporate Governance and Investor Rights. Successful applicants must have a strong academic background and substantial, relevant practice experience. The program is a one-semester opportunity. Current and past visiting professors (and their current institutional affiliations) include:
- William Sennett, 2022-2024
- Craig Raysor (solo practitioner), 2016–2017
- Kevin Conboy (Paul Hastings), 2014–2016
- Jennifer Sheridan (Earle Mack School of Law, Drexel University), 2012
- Christyne J. Vachon (University of Massachusetts School of Law), 2011
- Brian Krumm (UT Law), 2010
- Carolyn A. Rowland (Bryan Cave & Affiliates), 2010
- R. Jeffrey Kelleher (private practice), 2009
- John C. Chobot (private practice), 2008
- James Van Nostrand (Perkins Coie, West Virginia University College of Law), 2007
- Jonathan Friedland (Levenfeld Pearlstein), 2006
Field Placements
The Clayton Center sponsors field placements with local non-profit entities and business ventures on a for-credit basis and a paid basis during the summer. Recent field placements have included work with the general counsel’s offices of both Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex and the Regulatory Compliance Office for UT Athletics.
Continuing Legal Education
The Clayton Center organizes and sponsors a number of continuing legal education events and makes them available online. View the program offerings here.
Contact Us
Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law
1505 Cumberland Ave.
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1810
Phone: 865-974-9917
Office: Suite 202
Contact Us
Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law
1505 Cumberland Ave.
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1810
Phone: 865-974-9917
Office: Suite 202